27 from State still missing in Jammu and Kashmir

As many as 27 people from Karnataka are missing in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir and efforts are on to trace and bring them back safely, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said on Monday.

The Karnataka government has so far been able to identify 10 of the 27 missing people. The government has been in constant touch with their family members. But there is no clue about the remaining people. Efforts are being made to trace them all and bring them back to the State, he told reporters.

Altogether 660 people from Karnataka, many of them tourists, were stranded in Jammu and Kashmir due to floods. So far, 595 people have been rescued and shifted out of the flood-affected areas. Of the remaining 65 people, 18 are in the relief camps of Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force.

They are likely to return to Karnataka in two to three days, he said.
Jayachandra said the Karnataka government has released Rs 5 crore as financial assistance to the Jammu and Kashmir government.

A team of officers from the State has been deployed in Srinagar to oversee the operation to bring the affected people from Karnataka back to the State. The government is also ready to send a team of doctors, if necessary, he added. He said the government will soon take steps to collect donations from people and send them to the needy.

Appeal for relief material
The State government has appealed to the citizens of Karnataka to send relief materials to Jammu and Kashmir. 

Donors can send blankets, pillows and medicines, non-perishable food items like milk powder, baby milk powder, tea powder, rice, dal and packaged drinking water bottles of one litre each. The relief material must be fresh and unused, including blankets and pillows.

Relief materials can be addressed to the Chief Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir. Donors can write their names, address and contact numbers on the parcel. However, the government has not designated any particular place to drop the relief material.